The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

SETTLEMENT STUDIES

Site of Settlement
The Site of a settlement describes the physical nature of where it is located.

Factors affecting the site of a settlement

There are a huge number of factors that have to be considered when trying to
locate a new settlement. These can be grouped into four broad headings: climatic,
economic, physical and traditional. The diagram above should give you an idea of
how each one plays a part in the location of a settlement.
1. Aspect
Aspect and shelter are two of the most important factors that were used when
deciding where to locate a settlement. Aspect relates to the direction in which the
land faces. In the Northern Hemisphere the best slopes to locate on are those
that face south, as they will receive the most sunshine, and therefore be best for
agriculture. This can be seen clearly in many of the valleys of the Alps, where
settlements have located on the south-facing slopes. Shelter is also very
important, particularly from the cold northerly winds and prevailing southwesterly
winds in the UK. A good example of settlements being sheltered by their natural
surroundings are the many spring-line settlements found along the base of the

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

chalk escarpments of the North and South Downs. These settlements would also
have benefited from the good water source and fertile farmland nearby.

2. Water supply:
A supply of water was probably the single most important factor in deciding where
a settlement might be located. Not only do rivers provide a source of clean drinking
water, they also provided a food source through fishing, and a transport route.
Most of the world's largest cities are located on rivers, especially the point at
which they reach the sea, as this was often the first point that explorers landed.
3. Dry point sites:
Water is vital to a settlement and is the most common factor behind their location.
A dry point site is one that is slightly raised from the surrounding area, meaning
that it is less likely to flood. Ely in Norfolk is a good example of this.

4. Wet point sites:

This refers to any site that has access to water, usually through being beside a
river. Towns would either grow up along the river or clustered near the point at
which the river enters the sea. Examples of wet point sites include the towns and
villages of the Welsh valleys, which tend to extend along the flat valley floor,
rather than up the steep valley sides. Spring line settlements in the North and
South Downs are also good examples of wet point sites.

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

5. Defence:
In medieval times defence was one of the most important factors influencing the
site of a settlement. The relief (shape) of the land often proved to be the best
form of defence. Edinburgh castle sits on the top of a glacial crag, in an almost
perfect position to defend itself, with very little chance for the attackers. In
Italy, there are many walled hill-top villages, whilst the Maoris in New Zealand
built their settlements (called Pa's) on the top of steep hills to prevent being
attacked.
The other common natural feature used for defence is water, and in particular
rivers. Both Shrewsbury and Durham are very good examples of where
a meander of the river has formed an area of land bounded by water on three
sides. This provided both cities with excellent defences, as they only had a thin
neck of land to defend.

6. Resources:
The idea of resources covers a huge number of different things. For early settlers
the most important resources were fuel, building materials and food. Settlements
grew in areas where wood was plentiful, stone easily accessible and good soil
allowed agriculture to be developed. Since those early days of settlement many
different resources have become the focal points for the growth of urban
areas. Some of these are listed below:

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 Mining: The coal mines of South Wales, Tin mines of Cornwall and large
mining projects as seen at Carajas in Northern Brazil, have all encouraged
the rapid growth of settlements aimed at housing the workers and providing
them with all that they require.
 Food: The farming area of East Anglia is one example of how small
settlements will locate in areas conducive to good agriculture.
 Oil: Settlements in Alaska and the Middle East have grown rapidly on the
back of the oil industry.
 Precious metals: Settlements in South Africa have grown after the
discovery of large deposits of precious metals such as gold. The most famous
settlement to grow due to finding gold is San Francisco, after the gold rush
to California in 1849.
7. Route centres:
Route centres are often called Nodal Points. Anywhere where two routes meet has
great potential for settlement. Often these are formed by the meeting of two
valleys, but settlement nowadays will grow where two main roads meet. In the UK,
York is a good example of a route centre. Birmingham also enjoys a very good
location, where many routes join up, and this is one of the reasons for its growth to
become one of the largest cities in the UK.
8. Bridging points:
Just as water is very important for drinking, fishing, irrigation and navigation, so
the ability to cross the rivers is also very important. Many towns and cities have
built up at points where it was easiest to cross a large river. Exeter is one such
example, crossing the river Exe. However one of the best examples is Paris in
France. The original town was based on the tiny Ile dela Cite, which is an island in
the middle of the River Seine. This island meant they could build two small bridges
across the river rather than one large one. The new settlement also benefited
from all the other advantages associated with being beside a river, as well as
becoming a route centre due it being one of the only places to cross the river.
Nowadays the island has been engulfed by the huge city that Paris has become,
however it does still have many bridges going to it and is the point where the huge
Notre Dame Cathedral is built.
9. The confluence of two rivers:
Just as two valleys, or roads, make a nodal point for settlement growth, so do two
rivers joining. One such example is found in Khartoum in Sudan, where the Blue and
the White Nile meet.
Situation

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

The situation of a settlement is the description of the settlement in relation to

the other settlements and physical features around it. The situation of a
settlement is the most important in determining whether it grows to become a
large city or stays as a small town or village. As cities begin to fulfil different
functions their importance can increase or decrease. Their situation plays an
important part in deciding which of these will occur.

Urban Hierarchies
Settlements can be described as being part of the urban hierarchy. Where they
stand on the hierarchy depends on a number of factors, the main ones being
population, the number of services a settlement has and its sphere of influence.
The best way to show the urban hierarchy is by using a pyramid, as shown in the
diagram later.

Factors Affecting the hierarchy of a settlement

1. Population
The most obvious way of deciding where a settlement ranks on the urban hierarchy
is by using the population of that settlement. The larger the population, the higher
the settlement is placed on the hierarchy.
In the UK, the largest city in terms of population is London, which most people
would agree is the most important settlement in the country and so deserves to be
placed on the top of the urban hierarchy for the UK.
After that the divisions between what is classified in each layer is a bit more
vague. Different sources will have different numbers for how many people are
needed for a place to be called a city rather than a town for instance.
However the most important thing to notice on the diagram is that as you go up the
hierarchy, there becomes a lot less of that type of settlement. So, the diagram
shows us that there are huge numbers of isolated farmhouses and hamlets. There
are less villages and small towns and so on.
In the UK, many people would argue that only London should be placed in the
highest rung of the triangle. However some other large cities, such as Birmingham,
Manchester and Leeds are growing fast, and may be considered to have reached
the top level as well.

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

2. Services and functions

Services are things such as retailers(shops), professionals (doctors, lawyers etc),
entertainment, government functions and leisure. The theory goes that the larger
a settlement is, and therefore the higher it is on the urban hierarchy, the more
services and functions it will have. In general in the UK, this is the case. London is
the settlement at the top of the urban hierarchy, and it has the greatest numbers
of services and functions of any settlement in the country. For instance, it has the
major international airports, it is the seat of our national government, it has the
widest range of shops, including very specialist ones, and it has the most renowned
professional services. This is because its population is large enough to support all
of the services.
A small village may on the other hand only have the population to support a pub,
post office, village store and perhaps a small garage.
Villages and other rural settlements have found over the last 20 years that it has
been increasingly hard for services to remain viable in these settlements. Small
post offices and banks have frequently been closed down, as there aresimply not
enough people using them to make them viable.
The number of services (functions) that a town provides normally relatesto the
number of people living there.
There are however, two noted anomalies. These are examples of settlements that
do not conform to the general pattern, and they are explained below:
Anomaly A: A Tourist town: Towns, such as Brighton, Blackpool and Eastbourne,
that have grown due to the tourist industry, often have more services than their
population suggests they should have. This is because many of their services are
catering for the huge numbers of tourists who flood into the towns during the
summer months. Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, beach shops and ice cream stalls
all are aimed to provide services for the tourists.
The extra tourist numbers swell the total population during the summer to a level
that is more appropriate for the number of services provided.

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

Anomaly B: A Commuter Settlement: Many rural villages are becoming commuter

centres, where people live, but work elsewhere. Many villages and towns around the
London area fulfil this function.
Commuter settlements have a large resident population, but as very few of them
actually work in the village, there is nobody to support any services. The
commuters will do their shopping and banking in the city where they work. This
means that these settlements will have fewer services than their population
suggests they should have. Some commuter settlements are changing their services
to cater for the different residents, with restaurants and cafes replacing the
traditional village services.
3. Sphere of influence
The sphere of influence of a settlement describes the area that is served by a
settlement, for a particular function. Its sphere of influence for different
functions may cover vastly different areas. For instance a supermarket may
attract people from a 20-mile radius, whilst a leisure activity, such as going to the
theatre may attract them from far further away.
The larger a settlement is the greater its sphere of influence is likely to be, as it
has a wider range of services and functions to attract people to go there. This is
shown in the diagram below. A small village may only have a village store selling the
daily newspaper and food such as bread and milk. People will only travel the
shortest distance they need to buy these products. They are described as
being convenience goods. In other words, something that you can buy easily and for
the same price all over the place. A larger town would have a wider sphere of
influence because it would have shops and services that are more specialist, and so
people would be willing to travel further to use them. An example might be a
furniture shop. This sells comparison goods, in other words products that you
might shop around for before going ahead and buying something.

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

There are two major ideas to consider when looking at the sphere of influence of a
shop of service. These are called the range and threshold population of a good.
The range of a good or service describes the maximum distance that someone
would be willing to travel to obtain that good or service. A newspaper shop has a
small range because people will not travel far to use them. A cinema has a much
wider range as people are prepared to travel much further to go to it.
The threshold population of a good or service is the minimum number of people
needed to allow that shop or service to be successful. The more specialist a shop is
the larger its threshold population is.
A newsagent will have a small threshold, where as a supermarket like Tesco's needs
a much larger population before it can consider opening a store.
Settlement Functions
The function of a settlement describes all the main activities that occur in it.
These can be grouped into a number of headings, such as residential, recreational,
retail, government, entertainment and industrial. Some settlements have one
predominant function. This was particularly the case when settlements were first
established. Some towns performed important defensive functions, others were
ports and others were important route centres for further exploration of a
country (such as the gateway cities of Canada e.g. Calgary and Edmonton).
Most settlements now are multi-functional, which means that they perform a range
of different functions, however some may be more important than others to a
particular settlement. For instance a tourist town will perform all sorts of
functions, but its main ones are concentrated towards the tourists.
Many settlements around the world have found that their functions have had to
change over time. One such example is that of small farming villages finding that
their residents are moving out to find jobs in the cities.
This leaves the village empty, apart from the older population. The village then may
become a retirement centre, or commuters may move in and it could become a
commuter village. Two good examples of the changing functions of a settlement can
be seen in Benidorm (Spain) and the South Wales mining towns.

Change over time

Example: Benidorm
In the 1950's Benidorm was a small, attractive fishing village bordered by fine
sandy beaches. Few people visited it despite the attractive scenery and warm
summers. However over the next 20 years travelers discovered the lovely little
village and began to flock there.

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

By 1970 Benidorm had been transformed from a small fishing village to a sprawling
mass of hotels based around the needs of the tourists. The town had changed
functions completely. By 1990 the resort had begun to stagnate, and the
government was forced to step in with a scheme aimed at rejuvenating the resort
and its facilities.
Example: South Wales Mining Towns
The villages of South Wales began their existence as small farming communities.
During the Industrial Revolution, large deposits of coal were found in the valleys
and the mining industry took off. Settlements grew due to this new industry.
However by the 1930's the amount of coal being extracted was beginning to
decline and by the 1990's all but one of the mines had been closed down.
The towns and villages that had relied on the coalmines began to decline. Some
however have once again had their functions changed. Small villages have become
centres for commuters to locate to, whilst the larger settlements such as
Pontypridd and Swansea have benefited from being at the Western end of the M4
Corridor.
This growth corridor extends right the way to London, and so large companies such
as Sony, Bosch and the Royal Mint have been encouraged to relocate to South
Wales. The towns are becoming important industrial and business areas.
Urban Morphology
Often in geography models are used to try to explain something that we can see in
the physical environment. During the 20th century a number of models were
developed to try to explain how urban areas grew. Although models show a very
general idea of the shape of the city, all of the ones described here have aspects
that can be seen in most cities in the developed and developing world.
Urban models for MEDC's

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 Burgess based his model on the city of Chicago

 At its core is the CBD, or Central Business District. This is the area with the
highest land price, which could only be afforded by businesses.
 Around this is the zone of transition, which is where industry located. In
many cities in the UK, such as Birmingham, this zone can be quite easily
identified. However in most cases the industry has moved out, leaving the
zone empty and in need of renewal.
 Beyond the zone of transition are the rings of residential housing. As people
became more wealthy they could afford to live further out of town, in bigger
houses, with larger gardens.
 The houses closest to the centre originally would have housed the workers
for the inner city industries. Many British cities still have many of these
terraced houses remaining.
 As people moved away from the CBD, the houses closest to the centre would
be taken by newly arrived immigrants to the city, either from elsewhere in
the country or abroad.

Hoyt's sector model:

 The sector model has a similar idea of a CBD to Burgess. This is still the
area with the highest land price.
 Hoyt then used transport routes to determine where his other sectors
would be located. He still had a zone of transition around the CBD, but he
also had industry fanning out from the centre along major transport routes.
He assumed that "Like would attract like", which is why he decided that
land-uses would concentrate to form sectors, rather being in rings, like
Burgess thought.

10

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 The lowest class housing would be closest to the industry, and probably be
located where the prevailing winds would blow the pollution towards them
(and away from the higher class housing).
 The high class housing also is in a sector of its own, running all the way from
the CBD, where many of the residents would work, to the outer suburbs.

Harris & Ullman's multiple nuclei model:

 This model was aimed at being more specific than the other two, however it
also has become more complicated. Harris and Ullman still have a central
CBD, but they also have other smaller centres performing specific functions
that Hoyt and Burgess decided would have been found in and around the
CBD. Thus Harris & Ullman also havea business centre, and industrial
parks.

11

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 Large cities do display some of these characteristics. London has different

areas of its centre that have different functions: the City, Westminster,
Oxford Street and the West End all have differing specific functions.
 London has also grown to engulf other towns and villages, which have become
smaller CBD's within the whole of Greater London. These CBD's act as
growth poles, meaning that the city does not just grow from one central
point, but from many spread around its area.

Urban models for LEDC's

Waugh's model of a developing world city:

 Based on cities of the developing world, using some of the ideas found in
the MEDC models, but also incorporating the urban features only found
in LEDC cities.
 The CBD is still central to the urban area, and is the area of highest land
price. However around it is the most expensive residential areas. In some
places, such as Sao Paulo, this means huge luxurious high-rise apartment
blocks, whilst in others, such as Delhi, the former colonial areas are the
most lucrative in which to own property.
 Industrial development is along major transport routes, whilst there are also
sectors of high-class housing.
 The most striking difference between the LEDC model and the MEDC models
is the remaining residential areas. They have been divided into three
sections. The peripheries are low class, poor quality houses. However they do
have limited amenities and are permanent homes.
 The favelas or shanty towns are illegal settlements, where the houses are
built from whatever the people can find, and there are no basic amenities. In
some cities, such as Sao Paulo, schemes have been introduced to help the

12

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

residents of the favelas, and these people can be found in the sector of
housing improvements schemes. (see section on Shanty Towns)

Urban zoning

Spcialist

By drawing a transect of a city, you can quite easily identify the different zones, in
much the same way as Burgess and the other theorists did. Transects help you to
identify and classify zones, enabling you to compare the characteristics of each
area. You can identify the CBD, the older terraced housing, and as you move
further from the city centre the newer housing of the suburbs. The main zones to
concentrate on are:

The CBD:
 The focal point of the city, with the highest land prices.
 The CBD is where shops will locate as they know it is the most accessible
point for the people of the city.
 The high land prices mean that buildings tend to grow upwards, and this is
why CBD's often have tall skyscrapers, particularly in American cities.
 The main functions of the CBD will include retail, entertainment, financial
services and other professional services.

The Inner City:

 This is Burgess's zone of transition.
 The inner city in the 19th Century would have been the centre of industry
for most cities. Low paid workers would have lived in the many rows of
terraced houses that were built beside the factories.
 Nowadays, although the factories have gone, many of the terraced houses
remain. The Inner city of many urban areas has undergone great changes.
These are covered in detail in a later section.

13

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 However once the industry moved out,the inner cities became areas in need
of redevelopment. The first plan was to build tall blocks of flats to replace
the terraces. This occurred in the 1960's and 1970's. During the 1990's
Inner City redevelopment has taken the form of gentrification schemes
aimed at rejuvenating the area, producing more of a community spirit, whilst
trying to keep some of the old architecture.
The Suburbs:
 Many suburban houses were built in the period between the two World
Wars, during the first half of the 20th century. Estates full of detached
and semi-detached houses grew rapidly as public and private transport
improvements allowed people to live further away from their place of work.
During the 1960's and 1970's these areas also continued to grow.
The Rural-Urban Fringe:
 The rural-urban fringe is where most of the post war housing has been built.
Usually in estates of mainly detached and semi-detached houses, the
emphasis has often been on making the houses as spacious as possible. Again
these housing developments were only possible thanks to the fact that most
families now own at least one car.

Urbanisation

Urbanisation is the process of urban growth that leads to a greater percentage of

the population living in towns and cities. It is the movement of people from rural
areas (countryside) to urban areas (towns and cities).

Advantages
 Improved economy - farms surrounding cities can increase production to provide
food for sale in cities
 Better services - people have better access to services although in LEDCs people
may not be able to afford them
 Improved income - there are more jobs available and jobs in towns and cities
tend to pay more

CBD problems and solutions

The CBD's of cities throughout the world experience many problems, some of
which are outlined below:

14

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

1. Congestion: Many British cities still have street plans that were laid down
hundreds of years ago. The roads cannot cope with the ever-increasing
numbers of cars and other vehicles. This can cause massive congestion
problems, especially at "rush hour". Solutions to the problems have included
improving public transport (e.g. the trams of Manchester); introducing park
and ride schemes (e.g. Oxford); pedestrianization (e.g. Exeter & Oxford);
encouraging people to share cars into work and building ring roads (e.g.
Watford). In Athens (Greece) they have tried an extreme form of control
by only allowing cars with odd numbers on their number plates into the city
on one day, and then cars with even numbers the next day. Unfortunately
this has led many people to own two cars, one with an odd number and one
with an even one!
2. Lack of Space: CBD?s are limited in their outwards growth by the fact that
the city encompasses them, and due to the fact that businesses want to
locate as close to the centre as they possibly can. This has led to land prices
rising to astronomical amounts. The only solution seen by most businesses is
to build upwards, which is why CBD's can be characterised by the presence
of skyscrapers.
3. Pollution: The major pollution seen in urban areas is air pollution, or smog.
This pollution is mainly caused by the fumes given off
by traffic and industry. The most famous example of where this pollution
haze can be seen is over Los Angeles, but most of the large cities of the
world experience it too. Poor air quality can lead to an increase in the cases
of asthma and bronchitis. Air is not the only thing polluted in cities. Water
can be badly polluted, and so has to be carefully treated before being drunk.
It is a horrible thought, but most of the water that you drink in London has
already been drunk by 7 other people! Solutions to pollution problems
include: banning heavy vehicles from CBD's; developing cleaner fuels, and
providing more litter bins in CBD's. Some cities have encouraged the growth
of out-of-town shopping centres to help traffic, land price and pollution
problems, by taking some of the focus away from the CBD. However this can
also have the negative effect of causing the CBD to decline.
4. Poor housing - problems in housing provision in LEDCs leads to shanty housing
being built. This can be controlled by urban planning which enforces buiding
of houses which cornform to minimum set starndards.
5. Unemployment- Lack of jobs in LEDCs leads to work in the informal sector.
This can be dealt with by promoting growth in rural areas which will reduce
the migration of people into major towns e.g Growth Points and EPZ status

15

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

given to some areas in Zimbabwe to encourage the establishment of

industries.
6. Problems in rural areas- The rural areas in LEDCs may have insufficient able-
bodied workers to farm the land, therefore the agricultural production can
be reduced.
7. Inner cities in MEDC's - As explained earlier the Inner City is also known as
the zone of transition. Most inner cities of large urban areas once had
industry located there, however this has almost totally moved out. The
Victorian terraces built to house the factory workers remain in many inner
cities, however in some they have been replaced by huge tower blocks.
Although seemingly the solution to the problems produced by the terraces,
the tower blocks also caused a wide range of social problems. Recently inner
city planning has centred around rejuvenating the area in alternative ways,
to try to encourage the growth of these declining areas. The two examples
below give an idea of some of the schemes that have been attempted in
British inner city areas.
Example: Birmingham
Birmingham is a very good example of where, in the 1960s, the local authority tried
to rejuvenate the inner city areas by knocking down vast areas of Victorian
terraces, replacing them with large tower blocks.
The terraces were seen to be old-fashioned, with poor living standards. Often they
lacked things that we would take for granted, like central heating, and had
inadequate kitchen and bathroom facilities. The local authority decided that the
way to combat the problems would be to knock down all the old terraces and
completely start again. Many other cities around Britain did the same thing.
The buildings were poorly built and soon began to need costly repairs. They had
poor facilities and few green areas.
There was no sense of community for the people who lived there, leading to
increased crime, vandalism and graffiti. All these things combined to make the area
a dangerous one. Many areas of tower blocks were centres for drug traders and
other criminal gangs.
The standard of living was poor, with illness and overcrowding a regular occurrence.
Most people would not choose to live in this type of housing, so it was inhabited by
the poorly paid, unemployed or new arrived immigrants. This led to social tensions
and in the early 1980's inner city areas in Liverpool, Bristol and London all
experienced serious rioting.
Example: The London Docklands

16

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

After the riots of the early 1980s a report by Lord Scarman proposed a new way
of dealing with inner city troubles. It suggested that these areas should be
subject to urban renewal (improving existing buildings) rather than redeveloping
areas by knocking them down and starting again.
The London Docklands is the best known example of an inner city area that has
been completely transformed in this way. The London Docklands Development
Corporation (LDDC) was set up to renew the area.
Some of the things that have happened there in the past 20 years include: .
The gentrification of old buildings. This basically means keeping the outside of old
warehouses and gutting the insides. Often these are then refurbished to become
very expensive riverside flats.
The Docklands Light Railway and Jubilee Line extension have increased access to
the docklands area, whilst the City Airport has allowed quick transfers to places
throughout Europe.
Low tax rates and rents have been used to attract large businesses to relocate to
the area. Examples include the Daily Telegraph and many financial institutions.
Canary Wharf Tower has been the centre point of this business influx.
Housing has also been built, not just for the rich, young workers in the city, but
also for the under-privileged groups who were living in the docklands area
previously. Low cost housing has been built, and schemes set up to help people buy
them.
Community centres and services have been introduced to previously declining areas
in an attempt to engender more community spirit. Leisure centres and shopping
malls have all added to the community feel.
Not all the residents are happy though, as many of the new jobs are too highly
skilled for the original residents of the docklands, and they resent the new people
coming into their area.
8. Shanty towns in LEDC's
 Shanty Towns are the illegal squatter settlements that characterize most of
the large cities in the developing world. They have occurred because of the
huge numbers of people migrating from the rural areas to the cities, which
just cannot cope with this massive influx of people. The main points to note
about them are:
 The cities most likely to have shanty towns are centres for commercial and
industrial activity as well as being transport centres.
 They are very attractive to in-migrants. Most of the new in-migrants have
very few skills, education or money, so they will often find whatever work
they can.

17

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 Shanty towns develop on marginal land, often close to where the in-migrants
hope to get work. The high cost of land near the CBD means that shanty
towns are either built on the periphery of the city or in hazardous areas
closer to the city centre.
 In many world cities, plans are now in place to help formalise the slum
housing, using schemes to improve amenities and living conditions. Examples
of these self-help schemes can be seen in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and New Delhi
(India).

Problems that are often associated with shanty towns:

1. They are politically embarrassing to the Government, which is why many of
them are now trying to help the people improve the shanty areas. The
Governments feel that they may well discourage tourists from coming to the
city.
2. The houses are built of whatever the people can find, and are often major
fire hazards. Their existence will reduce the prices of property in adjacent
areas.
3. They are home to many diseases and can easily be affected by environmental
disasters such as landslides and flooding.
4. They have very high rates of crime as the people seek ways to survive
5. Prostitution is rife

Shanty Towns are called different things depending upon where you area in the
world:
In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (Brazil) they are called Favela's . In New Delhi
(India) they are called Jhuggies. In Calcutta (India) they are called Bustee's. In
Lima (Peru) they are called Pueblos Jovenes

Example: New Delhi, India:

 The Jhuggies of New Delhi occupy marginal land, usually beside transport
routes or in hazardous areas.
 They are built from recycled materials and the 400,000 shanty homes house
over 2.4 million people.
 They have a very high population density and very poor facilities, such as
toilets, which leads to increased occurrences of diseases such as cholera and
dysentry.

18

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 By all building together (illegally) the residents hope that the area will
become officially recognised and therefore will qualify for government
funded public services, such as sewerage and electricity.

Solutions being implemented

 Many governments have bulldozed shanty towns to try to relocate the
people, but this tactic hardly ever works. In Delhi they realised that the
shanty towns should become the starting point for urban redevelopment and
planning.
 The government introduced schemes where the local community was closely
involved in the planning and building of new houses. Often the government
provided the materials, whilst the local people built the buildings. The
government would then provide an improved infrastructure. This has
occurred in many cities throughout the developing world.
 The Delhi Authorities have also built completely new communities away from
the old shanty towns, complete with good transport links to the CBD, where
many people work, and the prospects of many jobs in the new area. One such
area is called Rohini. It was built in the 1980s to house 850,000 people and
provide 300,000 jobs. Similar schemes are planned for elsewhere in the city.

The Rural-Urban Fringe

 The Rural-Urban fringe is the name given to the land at the edge of an urban
area, where there is often a huge mixture of land uses.
 Often science parks, business parks and industrial estates locate in the
rural-urban fringe as the land is cheaper, there is room for expansion and
they are closer to transport links to allow export and import of goods.
 Motorways and by-passes, such as the M25 and the Newbury by-pass have
been built on the rural-urban fringe, much to the disgust of environmental
groups who feel that the area should be kept as green as possible.
 Recreational land-uses such as golf courses and leisure parks have been
established in the rural-urban fringe.
 Housing has also encroached into the rural-urban fringe, and small villages
have grown as more people move out of the cities and commute to work.
 Out-of-town shopping centres also find that the space available, good
transport connections and cheap land encourage them to establish in the
rural-urban fringe.

19

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

 The Tutor on the Go – Settlement Studies

 Farming still occurs in the rural-urban fringe, although the farmers often
come under great pressure to sell their land for development. A farmer will
make far more money from a sale if there is already planning permission for
building to occur on the land.
Greenbelts
Greenbelts were established to prevent the continued growth of many of the
largest cities of England and Scotland.
They are rings of heavily protected open land circling an urban area. They aim to
protect the surrounding countryside from development, and in some cases stop two
large cities from merging. Planning permission is not usually granted for schemes on
green belt land, although there is often great pressure to allow some proposals
through.
The M25 is built through much of London's greenbelt. One of the main problems of
the greenbelts is that they have led to people commuting further into work.

20

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)